Everybody makes honest mistakes, but there's no such thing as an honest cover-up. Price Pritchett More Quotes by Price Pritchett More Quotes From Price Pritchett Optimism is a much more enabling mindset than hard-core realism, and it's far superior to pessimism...[because] Hope helps move us in the direction of our goals and ambitions. Price Pritchett ambition goal moving ...Force yourself to use the optimist's explanatory style: 'The situation is temporary. The effect will be limited, not pervasive. And it's due to external causes.' If you just can't make that work for you, refocus your attention...Turn your attention in a totally different direction for the time being. Replace the distressing thoughts with other ideas. Distract yourself. Price Pritchett gratitude style ideas Pay attention to the voice within. . . . Sometimes the voice of your conscience gets drowned out by crowd noise or by the pep rally of temptations. And your mind may put some selfish spin on the ball, rationalizing that it's okay to veer away from the ethical route. When we run into conflicts between ethical "shoulds" and our selfish "wants," we all argure out ways to con our conscience. But take pains to listen, because it has your best interests at heart. Price Pritchett selfish pain running Act as if success is certain. Price Pritchett certain ifs success When you can make it this simple, though, just do the right thing. Even if you could get away with less. Even when other people are doing the wrong thing. Even though the wrong thing seems like no big deal. Price Pritchett simple justice people The only way we can develop muscle is through regular exercise. As soon as we stop stretching and working toward higher ethics, our standards start to sag. The muscle gets soft, and instead of excellence we have to settle for mediocrity. Maybe something even worse. Price Pritchett mediocrity excellence exercise You can't put someone else in charge of your morals. Ethics is a personal discipline. Price Pritchett ethics moral discipline As tough as it sometimes looks on the front end, it's easier to do right than undo wrong. Price Pritchett tough sometimes looks The ethics of excellence are grounded in action - what you actually do, rather than what you say you believe. Talk, as the saying goes, is cheap. Price Pritchett ethics excellence believe If you're unwilling to defer pleasure or endure some "pain" for now, are you likely to end up later deep in the hole? Price Pritchett holes pleasure pain "You, who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by-"* You'll find universal agreement on the value of a behavior code, on the need for some sort of ethical system. Even the crooks count on "honor among thieves," and countries actually wage war according to certain rules. On the job and in the rest of our day-to-day living, we each need a "code for the road." Price Pritchett jobs war country Excellence is a process, not just an outcome. Sure, we have to hold out for high standards in the products or services we provide. The goods must be more than "good enough." But so must our approach - you know, our methodology, the way we do business and deal with people. How could the ends be considered excellent if we can't be proud of the means? Price Pritchett business mean people You carve out the organization's character through your daily choices. You shape its conscience as you exercise your own. Price Pritchett organization exercise character How can we be trusted with big things if we're not trustworthy with things that are small? Don't allow your finer instincts to become a casualty of the little everyday crimes of ethical compromise. Price Pritchett trust everyday littles Your doubts are not the product of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking. Years ago you excepted flawed conclusions as correct, begin to live your life as if those warped ideas about your potential were true, and ceased the bold experiment in living that brought you many breakthrough behaviors as a child. Price Pritchett children years thinking In these times of self-directed teams, empowered employees, and "boundaryless" organizations, your worth as an individual employee will also get measured by your work group's collective results. Price Pritchett organization teamwork self Until I test the limits to what I can achieve, I won't really know how well I can do. Price Pritchett achievement tests limits We've got to start thinking of school as a lifelong process. That's the only way we'll keep abreast and be able to share in the wealth of the new "knowledge society." Price Pritchett knowledge school thinking Live according to the ethics of excellence, and you can always stand proud. Pride - not vanity, but dignity and self-respect - should carry a lot of weight in helping you make decisions. Let pride help you decide. Price Pritchett vanity pride self The world behaves differently when I take action to go after what I want. Price Pritchett action want world
